Le Corbusier and L茅ger. Polychromatic conversations exists听in听dialogue with听‘s听retrospective on Fernand L茅ger. Staged at Cit茅 Radieuse in Briey, this off-site event is an invitation for audiences to听rediscover an听iconic Le Corbusier building, as well as reflecting on the duo’s long friendship marked by a shared听celebration of colour. Conceived in partnership with La Premi猫re Rue and le Val de Briey, the exhibition has benefited from support from听Le Corbusier Foundation. Packed with a rich collection of archival material 鈥 reviews, films, photographs, correspondence听and more 鈥 the exhibition sheds new light on a number of their projects.
Located just听40听minutes from Metz, Le Corbusier and L茅ger听offers a site-specific stimulus for audiences to consider in addition to the more conventional presentation of听L茅ger’s work at the gallery.听After having discovered the region on the front at Verdun during World War One, it was in the Briey basin in 1940 that L茅ger imagined the setting for an aviation centre. Some years later, Le Corbusier, who had a passion for what he called 鈥渇lying machines,鈥 explored the Lorraine region with an experiment in polychromy as part of the construction of the factory in Saint Di茅, before working on his housing estate in Briey in the 1950s.
Le Corbusier and L茅ger听first听met听at the caf茅 La Rotonde in Montparnasse,1920, a year in which the review L鈥橢sprit Nouveau, initiated by the architect and painter Am茅d茅e Ozenfant, stated on its cover: 鈥渁rchitecture, painting, music, pure and applied sciences, experimental aesthetics, engineering aesthetics, urbanism, philosophy, economic sociology, moral and political sciences, modern life, theatre, performing arts, sports news.鈥 These industrious words impacted on both the artist and architect’s work, and, in 1925, Le Corbusier invited L茅ger to hang a canvas in his pavilion of the Esprit Nouveau on the occasion of the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts. This was followed by L茅ger contribution听to Le Corbusier鈥檚 Temps nouveaux Pavilion with the production of a monumental photomontage in 1937.
While they听only collaborated a few times, their exchanges influenced the role they attached to polychromy in their respective projects. Throughout his career L茅ger听was convinced by the interdisciplinary nature of the arts, and he worked in favour of an understanding between the wall, the architect and the painter. 鈥淗ow can we create a feeling of space, a pushing back of limits? Simply with colour鈥t creates a new space.” Likewise, Le Corbusier stated听in his Almanac of Modern Architecture that 鈥渃ompletely white, the house would be a pot of cream.鈥
Le Corbusier and L茅ger, until 24 September,听Cit茅 radieuse Le Corbusier, 131 R茅sidence Le Corbusier, 1er 茅tage, 54150 Briey-en-For锚t.
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Credits
1.听Cit茅 radieuse Le Corbusier.
